Most wood finishes are food-safe, once their solvents have flashed completely off and the finish fully cures. Even so, there are project applications where your conscience wants all risk of toxicity to be a non-issue, right? Think hand-carved spoons, wooden bowls or serving pieces and children’s toys.
Clapham’s Beeswax Salad Bowl Finish can alleviate any niggling concerns you may have, because its ingredients couldn’t be simpler: beeswax and food-safe mineral oil. That’s it! It contains no harmful chemicals or additives.
Unscrewing the lid and taking a deep breath of the contents will confirm the beeswax immediately — it’s subtle and the only discernible smell this product has. Clapham’s has formulated the wax emulsion to be firm enough to be solid but not so stiff as to prevent it from loading easily onto an applicator. Rubbing it over bare wood, the wax immediately liquefies and penetrates into the grain, darkening it without imparting a shine. Once it dries, the wood takes on a flat appearance again, as though the surface is damp but entirely dry to the touch.
Aside from being food-safe, the other upside to a natural blended-wax finish is that it couldn’t be simpler to apply: wipe it on liberally, give it a few minutes to soak in and wipe off the excess. The downside, however, is that it will need to be reapplied often and off ers only slight water resistance and protection.
Clapham’s Beeswax Salad Bowl Finish is suitable for wooden bowls, spoons and butcher blocks and can also be used as a cutting board wax or as a food-safe countertop finish. It comes in a 7 oz jar and sells for $19.99.
